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"Don't Worry About It. Don't Worry About It." Just Don't Send Money

On Friday, August 28, 2009 just before 1 p.m. Officer Ramirez with the Giddings Police Department met with a complainant in reference to mail she had received that she suspected was a scam.

The woman reported that she had received a check in the mail for $5,980, along with a letter telling her to call a telephone number to claim the reward and to send $2,995 back for her taxes.

Officer Ramirez contacted the City National Bank of Long Beach, California, on which the check was drawn, and spoke with a bank representative who said that the account was not valid. The bank representative said that the check is a scam because they have had people calling from all over wanting to verify the account. Many people were reporting similar incidents to the bank.

After a closer examination Officer Ramirez learned that the letter that was mailed with the check had an Ontario, Canada address and the check had a Long Beach, California address. He contacted Green Tree Securities, who issued the check, and spoke with Lewis McGregor. The officer asked McGregor why he was issuing bad checks. McGregor asked, "What are you talking about?"

Officer Ramirez explained the situation to him and McGregor said, "Don't worry about it." Officer Ramirez informed him that it was against the law to issue bad checks and he again stated not to worry about it. Officer Ramirez then asked for his address and he stated, "Don't worry about it" and hung up the phone.

Officer Ramirez advises, "If you get something like this in the mail, don't worry about it, just don't sent money!"